Over and Out
by AlongTheSunriseAvenue
Summary: Sam and Freddie just got married, and they couldn't be happier- untill a huge change of plans throws everything off. These next nine months will be the hardest of their lives, and neither one of them is ready for what's ahead. Can they hold together?
1. Prelude: Change

**Summary: **_Sam and Freddie get back from their honeymoon with huge news- Sam's pregnant! Sam and Freddie have a lot to do in nine months, especially seeing as this wasn't something they planned. With money tight and life taking a turn for the worst, can Sam and Freddie stick together through this? Seddie, of course! Mild mentioning of Ciffin and Melanie/Pete._

**Ages Info: **_Melanie,__Sam and Freddie are 23, Carly is 22, Spencer is 34, and Griffin is 24._

**About The Rating: **_This fanfic is rated T for mild sex references, mild blood/vomit mentionings, and very mild language. The sex references are mainly in the first chapters. ("Where babies come from…") Blood and vomit will be mild. Language is all by Sam when she's in pain._

**A/N: **_This fanfic will feature one chapter for each month of Sam's pregnancy, and two additional chapters for the initial discovery and aftermath. _

_This is my first time attempting a pregnant fanfiction. I'm using as much references as I can to make the more medical things about pregnancy as accurate as possible. Enjoy!_

Sam rubbed her forehead with the palm of her gritty hand absentmindedly. The sounds of a roaring jet engine did nothing to sooth the exhausted woman's blaring headache. With a slight moan, she held her head up a little higher on her hand, her elbow sliding slackly across the grey table.

She was startled by the sudden presence of a larger hand against her back.

"Sam, it's gonna be OK…We'll land soon."

The sound of her newlywed husband Freddie's voice had more of a calming effect than anything else that day, yet she still didn't feel much better.

"What's bothering you?"

Sam gave a long, tired sigh. "Well, first thing, I'm exhausted. My head hurts, my stomach hurts, and I could really use some pistachios." She mumbled.

"…Pistachios?" Freddie said, raising his eyebrows. "Since when do you even like pistachios?"

Sam shrugged, moving to lean against Freddie. The motion made her head hurt even worse. Freddie put the arm that had been on her back around Sam's side, looking at her sympathetically.

"Well, as soon as we get home we can call that doctor Carly's been going to and fix this."

Sam frowned slightly. "I hate doctors."

"When was the last time you went to one?" Freddie asked her, slightly afraid of the answer.

"I dunno…maybe…fourteen years?" Sam mumbled.

"_Fourteen_?"

"Maybe fifteen." Sam added.

The pilot came over on the PA to announce that the plane would be landing shortly.

"Hear that, Sam?" Freddie said, trying to sound cheerful. "We're almost home."

"Not soon enough."

"Gaah!"

Freddie was sitting outside the closed bathroom door, head on one hand. The tiny flat that belonged to him and Sam was quiet that particular evening. The young photographer shuddered as he listened to his new wife vomiting into the toilet behind the closed door. They had only been home for fifteen minutes, and already, she was emptying the contents of her stomach into the toilet.

He knocked three times. "Sam? Are you OK?"

"Yeah, don't worry abou-" Her voice was drowned by the need to throw up again, this time in a particularly violent way.

"Why did you let me eat that?" Sam shouted irately.

Freddie sighed. The night before their departure from Hawaii, Sam had insisted on ordering the spiciest item on the menu. She vomited yet again, and Freddie gagged openly, wiping the sweat off his forehead. The fact that Sam was yelling at him wasn't new at all. It was just kind of unexpected. He had never seen her more happy than she had been the previous week. So he felt a wrench of pity as the toilet flushed right before she threw up again.

Freddie stood up and placed his hand on the doorknob. "That's it, I'm coming in."

When he stepped into the small room, he found a pitiful looking sight.

Sam was kneeling in front of the toilet, her face whiter than it, her hair frizzed and tussled all over her shoulders and back. The foul smelling mess inside the toilet overpowered Freddie. Sam leaned forward to throw up for what must have been the twentieth time today. The sight was far too much for Freddie, and he staggered over to add his own contribution to the pile.

"Gee, thanks, Fredward. It looks _worse_ when _you_ do it!" Sam said angrily, rolling her eyes.

Ignoring her harsh sounding voice, Freddie wiped his mouth and stepped behind Sam to hold her hair back.

**Later…**

"You're WHAT?"

"Congratulations!" The nurse said cheerily, looking from Sam to Freddie. "I'll give you two a moment." Seizing a clipboard off of Sam's bedside table, she left the room, smiling at the stunned look on the faces of the Bensons.

The two were staring at eachother, shocked. Freddie's eyes searched Sam's for signs of an inevitable punch to the shoulder, but all he could see was shock being replaced by happiness.

"I thought we were…going to wait?" Sam said finally. It was more of a statement, but it came out like a question. Her mind was whirling with thoughts of having to leave her new restaurant, The Flaming Pigs, behind, Freddie abandoning work as a photographer, Carly's reaction, Melanie's reaction, and her mother's reaction all at once. Her hand reached out to crush Freddie's.

Freddie's mouth was moving up and down, but no sound came out. Finally he squeaked, "So…I guess you weren't having food poisoning, then…"

Sam stared at him for a moment before giving in to laughter, which surprised and relieved Freddie. She settled down at the look of growing fear in her husband's eyes.

"Freddie," she said seriously, "You don't think I'm mad about this, do you?"

"Well I…I guess I should have read the directions on how to use a-"

Sam silenced him by placing her hand near his neck. Freddie eyed it apprehensively.

Sam broke into a huge smile. "We're going to be parents!"

In a rush, Freddie's emotions swirled to his eyes. The world around him faded to a blur as his wife pulled herself up to be hugged by Freddie.

She was scared, defiantly. She knew they weren't totally ready, knew that this would be the hardest thing they ever did together.

But for now at least, all Sam felt was happy.


	2. Month One: Proud Aunts and Secret Babies

**A/N: **_Here we go! The first month of Sam's pregnancy. This chapter contains less vomiting, but a few inexplicit sex references. Enjoy!_

In the back of _The Flaming Pigs_, Samantha Benson was observing the work of her employees. She had her black apron that sported a pig in a chef hat out grilling tied on a little loose to hide the slight bump between her hips. Sam was distracted, just trying to put off the inevitable talk with Carly that was soon to come. She hadn't told anybody she was pregnant yet, and she would only be telling those who meant the most to her. For now, at least.

With a sigh, she rubbed the palm of her hand against one eye tiredly. She had to get it over with sooner or later.

Flipping her phone open, she typed in Speed Dial Two, and up popped the words "Calling: Carly".

Shutting herself in a bathroom stall, she pressed the phone to her cheek anxiously.

"Hello?"

"Carly?"

"Hey, Sam!" Carly's voice sounded cheerfully through the phone. Sam winced. Even though Carly wasn't talking any louder than normal, her voice seemed unusually loud today. Probably the headaches again.

"Carly…" Sam began, her voice trailing off.

"Yeah?"

"Could you…meet me over here in an hour?"

"Sure!" Carly said. "But…you sound kind of upset, you OK?"

"It's just jet lag." Sam lied smoothly. "I'm fine."

There was a long pause.

"Oh…OK…Well, see you soon!"

"Back at 'cha." Sam said in a falsely cheery tone, and snapped her phone shut.

Suddenly, she realized that there was someone else she needed to tell. Might as well get it over with in a 2-for-1. She punched in Speed Dial Three.

"Hey, Sam!"

"Hey, Mel. Listen, can you meet me and Carly at my restaurant in an hour?"  
"Sure! What's wrong?" Melanie asked.

"Nothing's…_wrong,_ just be here, K?"

"K. See you!" Melanie said brightly, hanging up.

An hour later, Carly and Melanie were sitting side by side at a table, Sam across from them.

"So, you gonna tell us why we're here?" Carly asked.

Sam sighed, placing her forehead against the palm of her hand for a moment.

"Just wait a sec, I'm waiting for-"

"Hey, Freddie!" Melanie interrupted in a cheerful tone. Sam sighed with relief. Good. Freddie was here, too. There was no way she could do this without him.

Freddie pulled up a chair beside his wife. Placing an arm around her shoulder, he began immediately.

"Me and Sam had something we needed to tell you."

Melanie and Carly glanced at eachother.

Sam took over. "Well, over the course of our honeymoon, Freddie and I decided to tie our knot a little tighter-"

"Sam…" Freddie sighed.

Sam rolled her eyes. "Well, I told Freddie that we needed to be careful, and he didn't listen, so-"

"Sam!" Freddie scolded, cutting off his wife, who was now starting to smile a little.

"What Sam is trying to say is…Carly, Melanie-"

"_Aunt _Carly and _Aunt _Melanie." Sam corrected with a smirk.

"Right, Aunt Carly and Aunt Melanie…"

Sam and Freddie looked at eachother and smiled. At the same time, they finished the sentence.

"We're having a playmate for Emily and Tyler!"

A full minute of silence passed, in which Sam and Freddie beamed at eachother and Carly and Melanie's faces changed from confusion to realization to shock to excitement.

"You guys are having a _baby_?" Melanie squealed loudly, causing several people around the restaurant to eye Sam and Freddie strangely.

"That's so exciting!" Carly cried. Standing up swiftly, she ran over to crush Sam in a tight hug, which Melanie joined after a moment. "Emily's going to be so happy!" Carly said as she released Sam and returned to her chair.

"Oh come on, Emily's only five months old…" Sam said, the smile still on her face as she recalled Carly and Griffin's young daughter. "And Ty's only six months." She added as Melanie began to state how happy she and Pete's son Tyler would be.'

Melanie nodded. "I guess you're right…but…wow! I can't believe it, Sam! You're finally having a-"

"Ssssh!" Sam said. "I'm gonna surprise my employees about it later, but for now it's a secret, alright? You can tell Pete and Griffin, but that is _it_, OK?"

Carly and Melanie nodded.

A second silenced passed between the four.

"So…when are you gonna tell mom?"

Sam blinked. She hadn't even considered telling her mother. Sam said nothing and started to play with her apron strings.

"You _are_ gonna tell her…right?"

Sam didn't meet Melanie's eyes.

"Uh…yeah! Yeah, of course I'll tell her." Sam said, plastering another smile on her face.

Melanie and Carly nodded approvingly. Only Freddie continued to eye her skeptically.

After her meeting with Carly and Melanie, Sam and Freddie had made their way home. Now, they were seated side by side on their bed, Sam slumped tiredly against the wall.

"Why'd you lie to Melanie?" Freddie asked abruptly.

"Hmm?" Sam mumbled sleepily.

"You told her you were gonna tell your mom about…about our…"

"Freddie, if you honestly think I want that _witch_ in our baby's life-"

"Exactly! Why couldn't you have said that to your own sister?"

Sam gave a long sigh. "Cause…if I told her I didn't want mom to know, she'd just go and tell her anyway."

"But-"

"Mel's always been mom's favorite. She got preferential treatment throughout our entire life. It's not Melanie's fault that it was that way, but…well, she never got the bad side of mom. I don't even think she knows mom _has_ a bad side. So she…she probably thinks that mom and I have as good of a relationship as she and mom did."

Freddie leaned back, leveling himself with Sam. "Well, it's been five years since you've seen your mom. She doesn't even know you and I are married yet. Let alone…you know…expecting. So…"

"You're saying we should tell her?"

"Well…yes."

Sam gave another thoughtful sigh. Extending her hand to a bowl on her nightstand, she pulled out a handful of pistachios and offered one to Freddie.

"No, thanks…What is it with you eating pistachios all of a sudden? You go through them like they're pork chops!"

Sam shrugged. "Mmmf, dunwo, beyf juff taeff goodmee." She said with a mouthful of pistachios, spewing some of the bits out of her mouth.

Freddie rolled his eyes, smiling a little. "What was that?"

"They taste good to me."

"Aah."

There was a minute of quiet, filled only with the sounds of Sam chewing her pistachios.

"So, are we telling her or not?"

Sam didn't answer, instead choosing to become preoccupied with her empty shells.

"Sam…"

Sam looked over at Freddie. To his surprise, she saw a hard glare forming on her blue eyes.

"Look…I think we should wait." Sam said, a tinge of anger in her voice.

"What's wrong?"

Sam shook her head. "My mom. She's not gonna be all that happy to see me. Not to mention the fact that we're married and everything. We're gonna tell her, but I want to wait for a little while, till we're sure that we want her in the kid's life, and maybe, till we know what it is."

" 'What it is?' It's called a _baby_."

"No, I mean if it's a boy or a girl." Sam said, as if this were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Well?"

"I agree with you. But…man, I didn't know you could be so protective."

"What goes around comes around." Sam replied, leaning against.

"Wait till we tell _my_ mom…" Freddie said, starting to smile.

Sam laughed. "She'll probably glue herself to your side and make sure that you learn all of the very important safety procedures that she used on you 'for the benefit of our baby.'" Sam said, making air quotes with her fingers.

"She probably will…" Freddie said thoughtfully.

Sam sighed again, allowing her tired eyes to close.

"I look forward to it."


	3. Month Two: Second Thoughts

**A/N: **_Hmm. Minimal vomiting in this chapter. The majority of the forewarned sex references are over. This chapter would probably be rated K+, so much for all the reviews! Keep them coming! Also, lil update on _Frosting Fights._ It's on a temporary hiatus until I get some good quality ideas. If you've got an idea and would like me to incorporate it into a oneshot, tell me! The focus of this chapter is telling Mrs. Benson (THAT' ll be an adventure…), but mainly the Cam friendship. Enjoy!_

Freddie felt nervous as he steered the car towards the parking lot of Bushwell Plaza. His mother was next on the list of people to hear about Sam's pregnancy, and while he knew she'd make a far better grandmother than Sam's mother, he still didn't want his mother's 'aggressive parenting' habits forced on him. Sam seemed almost annoyed about having to let Mrs. Benson know that she was expecting a child, and made a clear point to Freddie that if she ever had another child, then Freddie would be telling Mrs. Benson without her, and if he tried to drag her into it again there would be another fork in his shoulder before he could count backwards from five.

Freddie stepped out of the car and opened the door for his indignant wife, who did not move, but just continued to sit there with her arms crossed glaring off into space.

"C'mon, Sam."

Sam made a grudging little 'mmf' sound, but got out of the car.

The elevator ride up to floor eight was filled with tense silence, Sam looking at her feet, which were now becoming obscured from her view by the growing bump in her belly, Freddie looking over at Sam nervously. As the door rolled open slowly, Freddie extended his hand out towards Sam.

"We're in this together…OK?"

Sam blinked, looking down at her husband's hand before she took in her own.

"OK."

Approaching the door together, they simultaneously raised their fists. Catching each other's eyes, they paused for a moment, staring eachother down, just waiting to see who'd crack and drop their fist. After a solid thirty seconds, Freddie brought his hand down. Smiling, she gave Freddie a nod and knocked on the door loudly.

The peephole opened , and Sam took a step back as a wide brown eye loomed into view. The door opened, Mrs. Benson gesturing for them to enter.

"Hello Freddie!...Sam…" she added in a less happy tone than the one she had used to say her son's name. It barely registered with Sam and Freddie; they had already figured out by now that Mrs. Benson was a little less than thrilled with her son's choice of wife. "Please, sit."

Sam and Freddie sat beside eachother, fully aware of the soft glare Mrs. Benson was giving their entwined hands.

Reaching behind her, Mrs. Benson whipped out a bottle and held it out on the palm of her hand to Sam and Freddie.

"Hand sanitizer?"

Freddie sighed, reaching out to scrub his hands. He held out the bottle to Sam, who gave him a look that clearly said 'Not in a billion years.' Freddie responded with a look that said 'Please, Sam? She's my mom, what did you expect?'

Sam rolled her eyes and took the bottle.

"So," Mrs. Benson began, placing the sanitizer back on her coffee table after removing it from Sam's hand with more force than was necessary, "How are you two? Been having a…good time…since you got married?"

Sam and Freddie looked at eachother, their hands returning to their interlocked position almost subconsciously.

"You could say that, yeah." Sam said finally.

Freddie nudged her with his knee. "Sam!" he whisper-shouted.

He shrugged at his mother. "Mmm, naah, we just came here to tell you something."

"Oh, what's that?"

Sam and Freddie looked at eachother.

"You tell her." Sam hissed so only Freddie could hear.

"No, _you_ tell her." Freddie hissed back in a very final sort of way.

Sam sighed. "Fine…"

She started to smile. A real, pleasurable smile.

"Guess what's happening in six months, Grandma?"

Freddie glared at Sam. "Sam! No old jokes right now…"

"No, Freddie, I mean that-"

Mrs. Benson came forward to crush Sam and Freddie in a hug.

"You're having a baby?" she cried. "That's…that's so…amazing!"

Sam smiled. "I'm glad _you_ get it, Grandma."

This time, Freddie just smiled at her proudly.

Mrs. Benson returned to her chair.

"How far along are you?"

"About ten weeks." Sam said.

"And do you know if it's a boy or girl yet?"

Freddie shook his head. "We won't find out for three more weeks."

Mrs. Benson was beaming. "Well, you've gotta let me teach you all the important lessons about-"

"Oops!" Freddie interrupted. "It's time for, uh…uh…"

"My doctor's appointment." Sam supplied swiftly.

"Oh…okay…" Mrs. Benson said, sounding disappointed as Sam and Freddie rushed out the door.

Once they were safely inside the elevator, the two burst into fits of laughter.

"Thank God we avoided _that_!" Sam spluttered, leaning on Freddie.

"Yeah, I'm sure she would have talked about 'making sure we put padding over every table corner and wall edge in the house'." Freddie replied. Oblivious to Sam, he was totally serious.

Walking back to the car, Sam spoke again.

"Hey, Freddie?"

"Hmm?" Freddie said as he started the ignition.

"You know how I used the 'grandma' thing, and you thought it was another old joke?"

"Yeah?"

"The second time…it really was an old joke."

Freddie rolled his eyes.

A week later, Sam was seated on Carly's couch, playing with the corner of a pillow. Carly was explaining proper childcare to Sam, who was only half listening.

"And so you never leave them alone in bathtub, even if you're sure they can swim…"

Sam rubbed her forehead. "Carls, what kind of mom do you think I am? I'm not gonna drown my baby."

Carly looked at Sam seriously. "I know, but...no offense, but don't you want your kid to have a better childhood than you did?"

"Course."

"Well, then you need to start taking notes here, because if you learn from _your_ mom your kid's gonna have a pretty miserable childhood."

Sam blinked. "Oh…alright…" she mumbled, trying not to sound hurt.

Carly put her hand on Sam's shoulder. "Sam, don't take it that way. It's just that your mom-"

"Mom, mom, mom," Sam said irritably, rolling her eyes. "That's _all_ you two _ever_ talk about! I know my childhood sucked, stop reminding me every chance you get and just _listen_! I'm not the kind of person my mom was, and I am not gonna raise my kid the way she raised me. You got that?"

Carly looked at Sam, taken aback. "Gosh…Sam…I'm sorry…"

Sam sighed. "Me too, Carls…"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, to tell you the truth….Freddie and I aren't ready yet. We were going to wait for at least three more years before we even thought about having kids and now…" Sam put her hand on the bump in her stomach. "It's hard. I can barely afford taking care of my restaurant, and Freddie's job doesn't pay well, and now this…"

Carly's eyes widened for a moment, and she put her hand back on Sam's shoulder. "So…are you saying you want to get an abortion or something?"

Sam shook her head. "How can I? We already told people we were gonna have the baby. So we are."

Carly pulled her friend into a hug, which Sam returned immediately.

"I know it's hard, Sam…but think about it! You love Freddie, and he loves you. And now you two are going to get the gift of a lifetime. I know the feeling. It's hard, but it's just beyong worth it. I know you're scared, and I know you don't think you and Freddie can handle this but…once this is over, you're going to be happier than you've ever been."

Sam gave a small smile.

"OK…"


	4. Month Three: Picture This

**A/N**: _Interesting chapter here. More big news for the Benson family…Hmm. I'm really happy with this chapter and hope you will be, too!_

Freddie looked up from the camera at the irritated family standing opposite him. All of them in red and white shirts, the mother and father were trying to paste smiles onto their faces as they coped with a screaming toddler that was clinging to his mother's head, a four year old who kept begging his father for candy and a bratty-looking six year old girl who looked as if she would like nothing more than to bite Freddie on the nose.

Freddie ran a hand through his brown hair exasperatedly. He hadn't had a headache like this in years.

"Excuse me, ma'am?" Freddie shouted over the din.

"Yes?" The flustered mother shouted back.

"It's been almost ten minutes. Your photo time slot's only got about two minutes left, are you almost ready?"

The mother sighed with relief as the screaming toddler loosened his grip on her head and his screams grew less loud. Freddie felt a rush of pity towards her. Little kids were hard to handle. He felt glad he didn't have any.

…_Oh_.

The father of the children rushed over to Freddie.

"Mr. Benson…" he said tiredly. "Could I pay you in advance for ten extra minutes?"

Freddie looked at the line of people waiting on the other side of the half-wall. One of his co-workers was filling out forms for a mother and father with a girl who looked about twelve. He tried not to think about how much he wished he was taking pictures for a family with more grown-up kids.

He sighed. "I suppose so."

"And…"

"Yes?"

"Do you have any candy?"

Freddie blinked. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out five small lollipops.

"These are my wife's. She's meeting me at the hospital in a little while."

"She alright?" the father said as he stopped the four year old from taking Sam's suckers.

"More than alright, she's gonna have a baby here in about six months. We're going to see if we can find out whether her baby's a boy or a girl today." Freddie said with a smile. He had no idea why exactly he was telling this total stranger about it, but even thinking about Sam helped his headache.

"Anyways, sure, I'm sure Sam wouldn't mind if your kid had one of her-"

"_Sam_?" The father interrupted, surprised. "Sam as in…Sam _Puckett_?"

"…Yeah…" Freddie said. "How do you know her?"  
"My older sister was a huge fan of iCarly."

Freddie gave a reminiscent smile. "Oh! Well, yes, that's her. She's Sam Benson now, though."

The father raised his eyebrows. "You married _Sam Puckett_? Wow. "

Freddie nodded. "Which flavor does your kid want?"

"Which ones do you have?"

Freddie checked the labels. "Bacon…pork…chicken…another pork…and beef. Take your pick."

The father considered.

"Beef."

As soon as the sucker entered the boy's mouth, an enormous scream erupted from the toddler. Freddie leaned to the left to see what exactly was wrong with it and saw that the toddler's pants were soaked through.

He groaned inwardly.

At that moment, Freddie's assistant, who worked the check-in line in front of Freddie's studio, walked up to him, her phone in her hand.

"Mr. Benson? Sir, Mrs. Benson's waiting for you at the hospital."

Freddie checked his watch and received a shock- he was already late to meet Sam. He looked from the phone to the distressed father to his assistant.

"Listen, I've gotta go." Freddie said to the father.

"But the photo's-"

"I'll take care of them." Freddie's assistant said.

Freddie looked at her. "You sure?"

"Mhm."

Freddie didn't need telling twice. He rushed from the studio as the shrieking wails of the two year old reverberated off the walls.

As he took off in his car, he popped two Aspirin in his mouth. What a day.

Meanwhile, an irate Sam was lying in the ultrasound room, hooked up to several machines. The doctors were observing the behavior of the fetus on the monitor, occasionally jotting things down.

One of the doctors turned over to Sam.

"Alright, Mrs. Benson, are you and your husband finding out about the baby's sex or being surprised?"

Sam thought about it. "We're finding out." She said finally. "But don't tell us till Freddie gets here, OK?"

The doctor nodded. "Of course, Mrs. Benson. We won't know ourselves for about twenty more minutes. Once your husband gets here, you two can talk for a minute or so, then call us back in and we'll let you know."

The doctors rose and left the room in a neat single file line, leaving Sam to stare up at the picture of her fetus. She shuddered as she remembered that the black and white scribbles up there were inside of her, totally at her mercy. She placed her hand on her stomach as she watched its heart beating. No matter how hard she tried, Sam had no idea if her baby was a boy or a girl. At least she'd know soon.

At that moment, the door of the waiting room was thrown open by Freddie, who had traveled here going ten over the speed limit-a personal record for him- to get to Sam. Having already memorized the room number that Sam was in, he took off past the desk clerk without even bothering to check in and let them know where he was headed. The desk clerk rolled her eyes as two security guards stopped Freddie in his tracks.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Freddie glared up at the security guards. "Trying to get to my wife back there."

"And why didn't you check in first?"

Freddie sighed. Without giving an answer, he turned around and checked in.

A few minutes later, he was finally there beside Sam.

"Took you long enough."

"You're not mad, are you?"

Sam gave him her famous death glare. Freddie winced.

Sam giggled, her glare fading into a smile. "No."

Freddie sighed with relief. "Good. So, boy or girl?"

"We won't know for fifteen more minutes." Sam replied. She'd been keeping careful track of the time.

Freddie's eyes wandered to the fetus onscreen, and for a few minutes the two just watched the scratchy image of the baby they'd have with them soon.

"So…do you want a boy or girl?" Sam asked after the very long quiet.

Freddie shrugged. "Well, it'd be nice to have a boy. We could do a whole bunch of cool _man_ things. I could teach him hunting."

Sam rolled her eyes. "Pfft. If we have a boy, the hunting teacher would be _Momma._ However, you could stick around and be target practice."

Freddie rolled his eyes. "Ha, ha."

"So you want a boy, huh?"

"I guess so…you?"

Sam looked up at him. "I kind of want a girl."

"Surprise, surprise."

"Well, I think I'd rather stick to my strengths when it comes to being a first time mom."

"Same here."

There was another silence.

"I think that you're gonna have a boy, Sam. Seriously."

"What makes you say that, Bens-Fredward?" Sam replied, forgetting temporarily that 'Benson' wasn't the right name to stick on him anymore.

"Cause I've seen pictures of when my mom was pregnant with me, and the shape of her stomach and how she stood matched the way you are now. And we all know that produced a _boy_." Freddie said, jabbing his chest with his thumb at the last word.

"Not by much."

"Enough to get us into this situation."

"Good point."

Sam sighed. "Well, boy or girl, it's gonna be a Benson, so regardless it's gonna either love ham or computers."

"And I know you won't be disappointed if it's a boy who loves computers."

"Dude, that's the exact opposite of what I-"

"You love male Bensons who love computers." Freddie said smugly.

Sam smiled. "I guess you're right."

At that moment, the doctors returned with the results in their hands.

"Mr. and Mrs. Benson, we're thrilled to announce that you're having-"

"Don't bother, Doc, we know it's a boy." Freddie interrupted confidently. "I'm super excited to teach or boy how to hunt and catch and throw…"

"Freddie…" Sam sighed. It felt kind of strange saying it, because Sam was so used to having it be Freddie sighing _her_ name in exasperation.

Freddie smirked at Sam. "You just wait Puck—Sam." He corrected himself, trying to remember that his wife was a Benson, not a Puckett.

He turned to the doctor.

"Tell us!" The Benson's pressed excitedly.

"Congratulations!" The doctor said with a smile.

"The new baby Benson's going to be a _girl_!"

There was a moment where Sam smiled at Freddie hugely, but before she could reach up to hug him he thudded to the floor in a dead faint.


	5. Month Four: Advice and Desicions

**A/N: **_Sorry for the delay in getting this chapter up. It kept randomly deleting itself -_-_

_ANYWHOOZLES! I'm super proud of this chapter and hope you'll enjoy it!_

_BTW, there is a part in the story when Sam mentions New York City. There's an explanation at the end of the chapter. Also, some minor sex references, so beware._

_Enjoy!_

The sun filtered through the window, leaving two soft beams of light on the Bensons' kitchen table. Sam was scooted a few feet away from it, her legs crossed and her feet on the small white table. A plate with several strips of bacon on it was sitting on the enlarging lump that was her stomach. Across from her sat Freddie, who was eating his bowl of Bitty Wheats, was trying not to think about his wife's sock-feet in front of him. She did this pretty frequently, and yet living in the same house as Sam for almost a year hadn't caused him to develop any indifference towards it. It didn't gross him out anymore, but he had come to terms with the fact that he would be the only one teaching their baby table manners.

Table manners. The term jogged something in his memory, something very important, that he'd been meaning to bring up.

"So…" he began awkwardly.

"So, what?" Sam replied, looking up from her bacon plate at him.

"So, I…uh…wanted to ask you something."

"Shoot."

He looked down and away, hesitation written all over his face. Suddenly, he looked up and blurted out, "Are we gonna tell your mom about this or what?"

Sam blinked.

"What?"

"I mean, you were the one who suggested we wait till we knew if our baby was a boy or a… a _girl,_" he winced slightly at the memory of being proven wrong. "And we know now, so…what's stopping you?"

Sam sighed. "You want the truth?"

"Let's hear it."

"My mom and I don't really, you know…get along…"

"I know that, Sam, but-"

"It's a lot worse than I'd ever tell you and Carly. But just to give you an idea…" She paused to take a large bite of bacon.

"Ever since I was little, I couldn't wait till I turned 18. You know…so I'd be free."

"Yeah?"

"Even before I turned eighteen, my mom didn't know much about my life. She knew I hung out with you and Carls a lot, but she still thinks we're sworn enemies."

Freddie blinked. "Wow…"

"And we started dating when we were…17, wasn't it? I kept it a secret for a whole year. Never mentioned you, even though I wanted to. Then there was that point when you had to leave for a year to finish college in New York City, remember?"

"Yes…?"

"Well, you know how hard that was on Carly and I, especially me…and I didn't even tell my mom _then_."

Freddie sat in stunned silence. At Sam's request, they hadn't even invited Sam's mom to their wedding.

"But I want to tell her."

Freddie's eyes widened. "You do?"

"Soon…ish."

Freddie smiled at her, patting her on the foot. "I'm proud of you."

Sam smiled slightly. "Glad you approve."

"So what do we tell her?"

Sam blinked a few times, the smile instantly vanishing. She hadn't considered that.

She stuffed an entire strip of bacon in her mouth at once, and looked at the floor, hoping to make Freddie change the subject, but he just continued to wait for an answer. Spying a spider on the floor, Sam swung her foot down off the table and smashed it with her heel, then brought her foot right back to its spot without removing the smashed bug.

Disgusted, Freddie removed the offending sock from Sam's foot and tossed it on the floor.

"Honestly, I've got no idea what we tell her. We should probably just wing it and see how it goes." Sam said finally.

"Yeah, I guess so…"

"You got any better ideas, Fredward?"

"No, and I thought we were gonna stop with the nicknames after we got married."

"Mamma never stops." Sam replied with a smirk.

Freddie rolled his eyes.

"So…you got any ideas for names yet?" Freddie asked.

Sam thought about that.

A long, contemplative silence filled the room. Then Sam and Freddie began bouncing names back and forth.

"Kaitlyn?" Freddie supplied.

"Too girly...Clarisse?"

"It sounds weird with Marissa."

"No offense, Fredward, but your mom is not a factor here."

"OK, fine. What about Bailey?"

Sam shrugged. "It's…OK, I guess.

Another silence came between them.

"I like Abby." Sam said decisively.

"Abby?" Freddie repeated.

"Yeah, Abby."

Freddie considered it.

"Abigail Marissa Benson…has a nice sound to it."

"Wait, hang on a sec." Sam said indignantly. "Why does she get _your_ mom's name?"

"It's like you said; you and your mom don't get along. Plus, Pam's a weird middle name."

"True."

Getting up from her chair, Sam sat her bacon plate down with a clatter.

"I'm gonna go call Carly." She said. Freddie nodded.

Exiting to the family room, Sam sat on the couch and punched in Carly's number.

The phone rang three times before it was answered by Griffin.

"Hello?"

"Griffin?"

"Oh, hey, Sam!" Griffin said kindly. "It's been awhile, how you been?"

"Eh, usual." Sam said nonchalantly.

"You wanna talk to Carly?" he asked.

"Yeah."

Griffin shouted Carly's name, and Sam heard her rush down her stairs to get to the phone.

"Hi, Sam!" Carly said happily.

"Hey, Carls." Sam responded, smiling into the phone.

"What's up?"

"Oh, not much…Freddie has a question for you, though."

"Sure, what is it?"

"K, so last night he wakes up at, like, two a.m., and he wakes me up and tells me he had this dream about me being in labor pain."

"Aaah."

"And he asked me, 'Sam, what am I putting you through?' and I told him I'd ask you what labor pains felt like, so…"

"Oh!" Carly giggled. "How considerate of him. When I was in labor, Griffin just kept yelling 'PUSH!'"

"Yeah, I remember that!" Sam said with a chuckle. She, too, had attended the birth of Carly's daughter Emily. "And when you were yelling at him for not being careful with the birth control, he kept reminding you that you were the one who said it wasn't necessary…"

"Which I didn't think was very helpful." Carly concluded, and the two women laughed into the phone for a moment.

"So, anyway…Freddie wants to know how much pain he's gonna cause me here in about four and a half months."

"Well…tell him to imagine all the physical pain you've caused him…"

"Yeah?"

"All at once."

Sam winced. "Yikes."

There was a moment of quiet.

"Carly?"

"Yeah?"

"Our baby's getting Mrs. Benson's name for its middle name…"

"Right…?"

"You have any good ideas for what we should name it?"

Carly thought about this. "I think you should ask Mrs. Benson."

"Huh? Why?"

"The baby's getting _her_ name."

_Later that day…_

Sam walked over to sit beside Freddie, who was watching the Seattle Cobras game.

"Hey, Sam." Freddie said, putting his arm around her shoulder.

"I talked to your mom."

"What about?"

"Carly said I should ask _her _for baby names."

"And she said…?"

"She says we should name our daughter _Seddie_." Sam said, trying not to laugh.

"…_Seddie_?"

"She says it's a good name because it's a-" her voice switched to a cruel but accurate impression of Mrs. Benson, " '_Perfect combination of the baby's parents' names, since they love eachother so much.' _"

Sam and Freddie stared at eachother. The look on Freddie's face was one of shock.

"…We are NOT naming our daughter Seddie."

"I know."

**A/N: **_That wraps up this chapter! Hope you enjoyed. Oh, Mrs. Benson…_

_About Freddie's college thing: After three years of college, his college building burned down. They had another campus, but it was all the way in NYC. So Freddie was forced to leave Sam and go to NYC for a year. But then he came back, and a year later asked Sam to marry him soooo….yeah._

_And don't worry. Sam and Freddie aren't naming the girl Seddie. I promise you._

_Hope you liked!_


	6. Month Five: False Hope

**A/N: **_Drama/anger/fighting off the port bow!_ _xDDDD_

WARNING: _This chapter features arguments and very brief mild language. _

_But…it's something we've been waiting for…_

_Hint, hint._

_Enjoy!_

Sam was lying on her side, staring at the curtain that hung over her bedroom window. Rain tapped on the glass in a constant rhythm, lightning tearing through the night sky like knives. A clap of thunder sounded, causing the troubled Sam to curl up even tighter.

The truth of the matter was that she couldn't sleep. The storm had started it.

It was on a stormy night like this one that her father left.

_Left _wasn't the right word for it; he had in the course of a single night abandoned the three female Pucketts as they slept, pushing Sam's already crumbling mom over the edge. The already existing violence, alcohol, and pure rage overflowed, trapped inside of Pam Puckett like a vast river. Her husband had been the dam, holding it inside of her as it grew more and more intense. But with him gone, the last threads of happiness and love in Pam's heart were drowned in hatred and rage.

And Sam became the recipient, because if you have two girls, one who's perfect and one who's not, the hate goes to the flawed one.

That's how life goes.

Sam screwed her eyes up for a moment, trying to shake off the burning sensation. But she couldn't deny it; the fear that she'd loose Freddie overnight, just like her father, had been there at the very back of her mind for a while now. Locked in a place she didn't like to visit…a web of small but ever-present fears.

She waited for a moment for her emotion to subside, and then she spoke.

"Freddie?" Sam was surprised to hear the catch in her voice, something that defiantly should not have been there.

Freddie blinked, returning to wakefulness quickly. He heard a particularly loud crash of thunder and wordlessly put an arm around his wife and pulled her over so her back was against him. He understood the fear of storms that Sam had; it was the only thing that really seemed to touch a nerve with her.

"We have to tell her." Sam said, and she was relieved to hear that her voice had returned to normal.

"Today."

Freddie nodded.

"It's for the best, Sam. You know that…don't you?"

"Yes…"

A very long silence passed, filled only by the sounds of the passing storm.

"Are you still there?" Sam whispered.

"Of course." Freddie whispered back.

A brilliant stroke of lightning lit up the room. Sam gave a quiet little gasp and turned herself over to bury her face against Freddie's chest as an explosive crash shook the room. The rainfall drilled on harder still.

"Sam?"

"Mhm?" As she mumbled it, she turned back over so her back was to Freddie.

"What made you decide that this was the right time to tell your mom?"

Sam thought about it. "I guess…I guess I just decided I was ready."

Freddie nodded.

"You should get some rest…you're going to need it."

It took her awhile, but Sam was finally able to fall into a light and troubled sleep. Unaware, at least for now, of the even more terrifying storm she'd be caught in tomorrow.

_The next day_

Sam was seated at the kitchen table again, waiting impatiently by the door for Freddie, who was still dressing to meet with Sam's mom. Sam wore one of her better tops and long dark jeans-an uncomfortable fit now that she had gone up several sizes-but Freddie seemed to be dressing as if they were meeting the president.

"Freddie, get down here!" Sam shouted irritably.

"I'm almost ready!" Freddie shouted back.

Sam rubbed her forehead. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.

She had no idea if her mom still lived in the same house—but then again, she probably couldn't have afforded to move. She didn't know if her mom would be home, or-Sam shuddered at the thought-there'd be a man living there with her. Would her mom remember her? After all, Sam didn't look nearly the same way she did as an 18 year old. For one thing, she was considerably larger-but she blamed her baby for that-her hair was a little longer, and her rough attitude had been slightly calmed so that the fierce look in her eyes was slowly fading off.

Not to mention, she was a lot happier than she had been back then.

But she _would_ recognize Melanie. Mel had taken the time to keep in touch with their mother, and though Pam rarely saw Melanie's son Tyler, she was at least aware of his existence.

So it was probably for the best that she learned about Sam's child, too.

"FREDDIE!"

"I'm _**coming**_!"

The car ride to Sam's mother's house was long and silent. Not a single word passed between Sam and Freddie until they pulled into the grubby looking neighborhood where Sam's mom lived.

"Freddie?"

"Yeah, Sam?"

"I'm…kind of…scared…"

Freddie smiled at her, putting his hand over hers.

"You? Scared? It's hard to imagine."

Sam gave a small smile, turning her hand over to tightly grip his.

"Sam, listen. I know you're scared, and I am, too. But we're in this together, all the way. If your mom wants to get mad and take it out on us, well, we can walk out."

"Or we could smash a hideous vase or three." Sam said, her smile growing larger.

"What, do you _want _her to hate us?" Freddie said with a small laugh.

"She doesn't deserve us anyway." Sam said, casting Freddie a fond look.

Freddie pulled into the driveway, and saw a rusty old 1980 convertible in the driveway. He and Sam smiled as they glanced at it, recalling the time when that very car smashed through the wall of Ridgeway High School and destroyed locker 239. As they arrived at the front door, Sam reached out and gripped Freddie's hand tightly before she rang the doorbell.

Thirty brutally long seconds passed before the door was swung open by Pam Puckett, who was wearing a pajama tank top that was far too short and pajama bottoms that were far too long.

"What, what do you want?" she grumbled irritably. "Who are you people anyway, the repomen? I paid that bill last week, so get your asses off my porch."

"Mom…it's me." Sam said, her voice tinged with apprehension.

"…Samantha?"

Sam nodded weakly.

"Well, haven't seen_ you_ in a while." Pam said, and Freddie gripped Sam's hand tighter when he heard the complete lack of enthusiasm from Sam's mother.

"I thought you dropped off the face of the earth! And what happened to you, you're all fat now! You've really let yourself go, haven't you? Not that I expected better."

Sam felt a hard lump form in the back of her throat, and she focused on ignoring the enormous pain of her mother's words.

"Mom…can we come in?"

"Yeah, sure, fine, whatever." Pam said grudgingly, and Sam and Freddie followed her into the family room. Sam's mom took a seat on a wooden chair that Sam remembered as being the chair she sat in when she misbehaved. Sam and Freddie took a seat on the torn, overstuffed couch with pea green fabric.

"Mom…do you remember Freddie Benson?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, sure, that nerd with brown hair you were always running your mouth about."

"OK, well…uh…"

"Freddie Benson would be _me_." Freddie said, a slight amount of anger in his voice.

"Yes…yes, that's Freddie…"

"And why'd you bring him here?"

"Well…cause…cause we don't hate eachother anymore, we-"

"Good to know." Pam interrupted sarcastically. Sam ignored her.

"We never hated eachother." Freddie added. Sam nodded.

"And?" Pam asked roughly.

"And…well…when we were 17…we started dating." Sam said slowly. When her mother did not reply, she continued on with much greater confidence.

"We dated for almost six years. It was a day-by-day kind of deal…we took it slow. But nine months ago, we got engaged-" And finally, Sam's mom showed a sign of reaction. Her eyes grew and she blinked a few times.

"_What_?"

"…And we got married six months ago." Sam concluded.

Pam cast Freddie a glare. "And you decided to tell me this because…"

"Because she's pregnant, you dolt." Freddie snapped angrily.

"You're _what_?" Pam cried. There was absolutely no happiness in her voice. "You are too young, too reckless, too irresponsible…"

Freddie stood up. Sam looked up at him, confused.

"Freddie, what's-"

"I mean, come _on_! She's your _daughter_, and you act like Sam doesn't exist! I mean, for God's sake, she's having a _baby_. You could at least say something _nice _to her instead of treating her like gum on the bottom of your shoe."

Pam stood up too.

"You doubt the way I treat my child?"

"Yeah, I do!" Freddie said boldly. Even he was surprised by his own anger.

"Pfft. You're exactly how I imagined the man my daughter would choose…stupid."

Her eyes fell to her daughter. "Why did you stay away from me?"  
Sam stood up, her hand returning to its spot in Freddie's. "Because...I guess just because I wanted to."

Pam blinked. "Well, young Puck—Benson," she corrected herself, casting Freddie a second glare. "It's too late to change that. Next time, toughen up and tell me sooner. Boy or girl?"

"Girl." Freddie told her.

Pam nodded. "Well, Lord help _that_ child…" she spat.

Sam moved towards her mother. "I'm sorry…"

"For what, staying out of my life? Pssh, I needed the vacation."

"We're leaving." Freddie said suddenly, catching the pained look crossing over his wife's face.

Without waiting for Sam's mom to respond, he led Sam out of the house.

Once they got out to the car, Sam moved forth and was crushed in a hug by Freddie.

"Sam…I'm so sorry…"

"It's not your fault…" They looked up…and down…into each other's eyes. Both were wet.

"It's OK…you don't need her."

"No…I think I do."  
"Well, yeah, everyone needs a mom, I guess. But just because she was a jerk to you back there doesn't mean that you're going to suck as a mother like she did."

Sam buried her face into Freddie's shoulder. "I'm sorry I'm all upset like this…I'm not used to feeling so upset…"

Neither was Freddie. He had never seen his wife more broken than she was now, with her face against his body as she gave way to the hot tears in her eyes.

That whole night, Sam sat beside Freddie on their couch, eating all the pistachios they owned. Freddie let her lean on him for support, and never once moved unless Sam asked him to.

She'd never admit it to him, not in a million years, but she had never appreciated Freddie's company more than she did tonight.

**A/N: **_That wraps up month five. I realize it was pretty sad…don't worry. The depressing part's over. And sorry about Sam's mom being so…evil-ish; I wanted to make her seem mad at Sam for shunning her and for getting pregnant. So, why did this upset Sam so much? She was truly convinced that her mother would accept her pregnancy and be willing to move on, but of course, that didn't happen. And why was Freddie so angry? Cause Pam was bangin' on Sam! And no one messes with Freddie's wife except Freddie. :D_

_Hope you enjoyed!_


	7. Month Six: The Complicated Truth

**A/N: **_Sorry about all the drama in the previous chapter…it's hard, because usually my chapters have a happier ending. But I've got to warn you. There's drama in this chapter, too. Be warned, mild sex refs and brief mild language are in this, as well as medical issues. Which are not explained graphically for the benefit of your sanity. The title of this chapter is a play on words…you'll see._

_Enjoy!_

"I can't believe you're making me do this." Sam grumbled.

Carly, in the spirit of her best friend having a daughter soon, had decided to throw a baby shower for Sam at the Benson's house. She had taken the time to invite Melanie and several of Sam's other friends to the shower as well. Freddie had offered to go, but Carly had assured him that baby showers were for women, and Freddie had been quite relieved to go to work on that day instead. Now Carly and Sam were seated in Sam's kitchen, waiting for everyone else to arrive.

"Why?" Carly asked, "Baby showers are _fun_."

"Yeah, if you're all girly and frilly…no offense. And I'm not. Can't you just call everyone and tell them the party was canceled?"

"No." Carly said flatly. "This is a big deal, so just-" She was interrupted by the sound of a doorbell; Melanie had arrived. "Just try to relax." Walking over to the door, Carly let Melanie inside.

She came over to Sam to squeeze her in a tight hug. "Hi, Sam!"

"Hey, Mel…" Melanie sat in the chair that was normally occupied by Freddie, and Carly took the one between the two where they would soon be placing a high chair.

"So, Sam," Melanie began, "You guys pick out a name yet?"

"Yes." Carly said excitedly before Sam could speak.

"Wow! What is it?"

Carly was opening her mouth to tell her when Sam shook her head.

"I'll be announcing it later, OK? I promise you'll get to hear it."

After a few minutes, each of the people Carly had invited was in attendance. Sam was relieved when she discovered that the other women didn't expect her to talk the whole time. Until, that is, Carly began to shout for everyone to listen.

"Alright!" she shouted over the talking. "LISTEN!"

Everyone turned their attention to Carly.

"Right, so we all know why we're here…we're here to celebrate the birth of the daughter of my best friend, Sam!"

There was appreciative clapping for Sam, who tried her hardest to not roll her eyes.

"So, the time has come for Sam to tell us…What are you guys naming her?"

Sam stood up grudgingly after a gesture from Melanie, and was taken aback by the excited eyes staring so intently at her. It made her feel almost self-conscious, given that she was rather fat at this point in her pregnancy.

"Right…thank you for putting me on the spot, Carls…" Sam said, the sarcasm in her voice quite apparent. She tried to remember exactly what Carly had told her to say. Turning to her best friend in a silent plea for help, Carly mouthed _'Freddie and I are honored to announce….'_

"Freddie and I are honored to announce that…"

She turned back to Carly and received a second mouthed direction.

'_The newest member of our family will be named…'_

"The newest member of our family will be named Abigail Marissa Benson..." her speech became increasingly stumbling and awkward as she carried on.

"But just…Abby for…for short…and, uh…her due date is January the…the eighteenth and…and if you've got present for her than that would be fantastic and…I really appreciate it!" she said the last sentence in an overly rushed voice.

As she returned to her seat after her rather awkward speech, she became aware of a slight twinge of pain in her stomach. She was used to the baby kicking her, but…but that wasn't the way it's kicks normally felt. Strange.

The presents were alright; she received a handmade, multicolored wooden rattle with the words "Princess Benson" carved into it, a little chair that supported the baby's head, and a hand-woven little pink hat from Melanie; a fuzzy stuffed pig and a plastic xylophone from her cousin Annie; a pink ankle bracelet with little silver crowns on it from her Aunt Maggie; a wagon from Wendy; and a hand-crafted wooden highchair painted every color of the rainbow from Carly, who had received a lot of help from Griffin, who owned and ran his own woodcarving shop. The guest began to leave starting at 7 that night, and at last Sam had time with just her sister and best friend. It wasn't until eight that Sam suddenly became overcome by an incredible jolt of pain.

She had been standing, and she fell to a kneeling position on the ground with her hands on her stomach.

"Sam!" Carly and Melanie cried, rushing to Sam's sides.

"Are you alright?"

Sam gasped aloud in pain, unable to speak.

"Melanie, go get Sam on the couch!" Carly said firmly. "Sam, what can I do?"  
Sam opened her eyes, which were screwed up in pain, and gasped out her only request to Carly.

"Call Freddie. Now."

Freddie was at work when he received a phone call from Carly. His assistant had rushed in just as he was seconds from snapping a perfect Halloween picture for a family of three. He was working overtime this week, as this was one of the busiest times of year for seasonal family photos.

"Mr. Benson!"

"Gaah!"

Startled, Freddie whirled around, only to find himself face-to-face with his young assistant Phoebe.

"Phoebe! Don't do that, you scared me."

"Yeah, I saw that…"

"What can I do for you?"

"Sir, Carly Peterson called from your house. She and Melanie Corvis were instructed by your wife to call you."

"Is Sam OK?" Freddie asked urgently.

"I don't know, sir. Mrs. Peterson says that your wife seems to be having some kind of complication-"

Phoebe never got to finish her statement. Freddie ran from the scene, barely remembering to snatch his coat before he rushed out of his studio.

He couldn't drive fast enough. He ran three red lights-his personal best-to reach Sam as soon as he could. It took ten minutes for him to get home.

Ten minutes too long.

Once he entered his family room, he found Sam lying on their couch, Melanie sitting beside her, applying a cool wet rag to Sam's forehead. There was an open box of pain medication on the coffee table.

"Carly, what's-"

Carly rushed over and pulled him into the kitchen. He saw genuine fear in her eyes. He hadn't seen such terror on her face since he had saved her life almost eight years ago. Once they reached the kitchen, Carly informed Freddie.

"There's no right way to say this, Freddie, but her contractions are beginning and-"

"NOW?" Freddie cried. "That can't be right!"

"I'm no doctor, Freddie, but it's too early. Melanie and I called Sam's doctor and he's on his way with an ambulance and everything! I'm so sorry…"

"Don't be…"

Freddie re-entered the family room and took over taking care of Sam.

"Looks like we're getting to this sooner than we thought, huh?" He said, trying to smile.

Sam smiled painfully. "Damn you and your little _'this is the right time'_ speech." She said with the tiniest of laughs.

Freddie was impressed. "Wow. That's impressive."

"What?"

"You can still insult me while going into premature labor."

Sam gave him a very feeble punch in the gut.

Freddie smiled down at her and ruffled her hair.  
"Stay strong…OK?"

Sam nodded. "OK…"

At that moment, Sam's doctor arrived in the room after Carly explained to her what had happened. "Mrs. Benson, when exactly did these contractions start?"

"About fourty-five minutes ago." Sam said. Freddie was shaken by the weakness in her voice.

"And how far apart are they?"

"Around ten minutes."

The doctor nodded. "Well. It's a very good thing your sister called us when she did."

"Can you take care of her?" Freddie asked anxiously.

The doctor nodded. "We can administer some medication to her that will hold off the delivery. However, it is also important that she has not been drinking any alcoholic substance of any kind. Has she, at any point during this pregnancy?"

Sam and Freddie simultaneously shook their heads.

The doctor nodded. "Good. Well, the good thing is that Mrs. Benson will not need to go to the hospital. However, she will need to stay on bed rest until she has her baby. Is that clear?"

Freddie nodded. "Of course. What kind of help will she need?"

"She needs to stay in bed at all times. The only exception will be when she needs to use the bathroom. Even then, she will require someone to take her there and back. She will eat soft foods only, and she may not take more than three pain medication pills each day. In addition, someone must be home with her and in hearing range of her around the clock in case this happens again."

The rather shocked Sam looked up at her doctor fearfully. "And if it does…?"

"We will administer medicine to you, but if it happens after you reach the second week of your seventh month we will go through with the delivery. It's not likely to happen again, but to be safe, you may not leave your bed until the child is ready to be born. Do you understand?"

Sam nodded. The doctor left briefly, and returned with a small shot needle.

He gave Sam a shot on her shoulder, and within a few moments her pains had decreased dramatically.

"Thanks…"

"Good day to you, Mr. and Mrs. Benson. Best of luck."

And with that, the doctor exited.

Melanie, Carly, and Freddie all turned to Sam at the same moment. They were all affected by the look of terror on her face. And it was clear to them that the fear wasn't for her; it was for Abby's threatened safety.

Freddie sat beside Sam and hugged her tightly.

"Carly, Melanie, thank you for your help. Would you mind leaving Sam and I alone?" he asked.

"Sure thing." Melanie said, her voice also tinged with worry. The two women departed the scene, leaving Sam alone with Freddie.

"What are we going to do now?"

"Well…I guess for now you're going to have to quit work at The Flaming Pigs until the baby's two months old…"

"That could be until _March!_" Sam cried. "And we really need the money that comes from it…"

"I know, Sam, I know…" Freddie took her hand in his.

"Try to go to sleep, alright?"

Sam sighed. "It'd be a lot easier if I wasn't so worried…"

Freddie used his free hand to shift the cool rag. "OK, then I'm going to cure you of your worry-itis."

Sam smiled slightly. "Give it a try, O Photo Master." She said with a small amount of sarcasm.

"Don't be vicious."

"Sorry."

"OK…name something that makes you happy."

"Fried chicken." Sam supplied immediately.

"OK, good, now close your eyes."

As Sam's eyes closed, Freddie put their entwined hands over the large lump that was their child. He sat on the free space of the couch (which wasn't much) and spoke to Sam again.

"You still thinking about chicken?"

"Mhm."

"Is your worry-itis still there?"

"Just a little." Sam said sleepily.

"Alright, now think about this. Right here beside you is your husband, who loves and fears you very, very much."

Sam smiled a little.

"And together, you two make up a super awesome team. A team that's gonna have its third member pretty soon. There's no one more up for the challenge than you are. And soon, we're going to have Abby with us. She'd be proud of you, Sam. I know she would."

Freddie and Sam sat in silence for a few minutes before Freddie realized that Sam had gone to sleep. Picking her up carefully, he carried her to their room and gently placed the covers over her exactly how she liked them. He bent down and kissed her forehead, which was damp from the rag that had been sitting there. Switching off her bedside table lamp, he headed downstairs and called his mother.

**A/N: **_I warned you._

_I'm very proud of this chapter. I worked really hard on it and hope you liked it! I edited some mistakes I missed before to improve it. This story is just a couple chapters away from its end. I am considering writing a sequel for this, let me know in your review! About the play on words: Sam's pregnancy has a COMPLICATION. It is therefore COMPLICATED . And that is the sad __**truth**__. Look who's creative xDDD_

_Thanks for reading:)_


	8. Month Seven: The Opposite of Adventure

**A/N: **_We're almost theeeeeree…._

_FUN FACT! I was listening to the Glee version of Pokerface while typing most of this. I love that song! That has nothing to do with the story, however, and I apologize for boring you with the tidbit xDD_

Sam absolutely **loathed** being on bedrest.

Initially, it had kind of scared her. She had never been confined to a single space for longer than a day in her life. Now, she grew increasingly agitated with her position, with only a TV, books, and Freddie's laptop to entertain her.

With the Bensons unable to afford having both Sam and Freddie out of work, they had agreed on a rotation. Melanie would stay with Sam from the time Freddie left for work to the time he returned. The next day it was Carly, and the next day Freddie stayed home from work to be with Sam. Even though he was taking every third day off, Freddie still made enough money to keep the family of two and a half-as he and Sam had came to call it-going.

November had always been one of Sam's favorite months, right up there with October and December. But this November was turning out to be a bit of a drag. Instead of being able to see the last leaves falling, she saw the same light teal bedroom walls and cream curtains; same wooden black headboard and nightstands; same lamps, same door to the closet and bathroom. It was painfully boring.

Reaching for her pistachio bowl, she rested her free hand on the now enormous lump that was Abigail Benson. Chewing roughly, she considered her options.

She could look and see what was on TV, even though she had already memorized the schedule for today of every channel she and Freddie watched. She could check her email for the fifth time in an hour. Or she could read, something she very rarely did and even more rarely enjoyed.

There was also calling Freddie. But she needed to get used to only doing that twice a day; last week, his boss had yelled at him for having ten phone conversations with her a day and had threatened to fire him over it. So now, she was limited to two calls a day, and she had already called once.

And it wasn't even noon.

So when Freddie finally returned that day to take over from Carly, Sam was incredibly happy to see him. He had brought Chinese takeout with him, and tossed Sam her bag as he sat down on the chair beside her. Since Sam was no longer using the kitchen, Freddie had brought up her chair to their bedroom so he could eat both breakfast and dinner with her. Sam smiled as she began to eat the rice and chicken that Freddie had chosen for her, which was one of her favorites.

"So, what's going on?" Sam asked. This was their typical dinnertime conversation opener; now that she was confined to her bedroom, Sam had become increasingly interested in what was going on in the outside world.

"Well…someone spray painted the wall of a bank…and I think the president got a haircut." Freddie said slowly as he considered.

Sam raised her eyebrows. "Wow. That's it?"

"That's it."

There was a silence between them as both Sam and Freddie became absorbed in their food. Freddie watched Sam's face as she ate; she looked upset. He couldn't blame her. Being stuck in one spot for two weeks straight, and more to come, must be awful.

"I know what's gonna make you feel better." Freddie said in a slightly singsong voice.

"Who said anything about me being sad, Fredward?" Sam replied with a touch of irritability in her voice.

"It's all over your face."

Freddie climbed up so he was kneeling in front of her.

"K, fine, now what are you gonna do?"

Freddie surveyed her face. Russet eyes fell on a drop of soy sauce that had clung to her nose. He decided he would aim for that. Leaning far forward, he kissed the tip of her nose so that the soy sauce transitioned into his mouth. Even though his eyes were closed, he could tell Sam was smiling slightly.

Sliding into his typical position beside her, he asked, "You feel better?"

"Let's just say you're lucky I'm stuck right here, Fredward."

Every third day of the week-days Sam and Freddie had come to call "The Teamwork Testers" due to the amount of effort Freddie had to put into doing absolutely everything for Sam-was Sam's favorite. As much as she loved hanging with Melanie and Carly, she often was kept the most entertained by Freddie. "…because of your face." She had jokingly said when she explained this to him, to which Freddie had responded with a small smile and a characteristic eye-roll. Since she could no longer get out of bed to change clothes, it became Freddie's job to alternate her between pairs of pajamas each night. On this particular evening, he took a little too long to remove her black sweatpants, to which Sam said,

"This may be the most adventurous thing you've done since I got stuck here, Freddie, but please do me a favor and just grab me some new pants."

Freddie had obliged her laughingly.

"So, what do you want for Christmas?" he asked taking a seat beside her.

Sam raised her eyebrows. "Really? It isn't even Thanksgiving yet."

"I know, but today I saw a whole bunch of Christmas lights on sale at GVS…"

"Tell me you didn't buy any-"

"-And I bought fifteen boxes of colored lights, ten boxes of white, a light-up reindeer, AND an inflatable Santa!"

Sam sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, yeah, and I also got you this." Freddie said, reaching into his pocket.

"Ooh! Is it meat?"

"No."

"Candy?"

"No."

"Then why'd you bother?"

Freddie smiled, handing her the object; a pink beanie with Abby's initials sewn onto it.

Sam felt the fuzzy hat. "You said this was a present for _me_, Fredward. This is a hat for Abby."

Freddie wilted.

Sam beamed. "I love it."

Thanksgiving at the Bensons' was a quiet affair, with only Freddie, Sam, Carly, Griffin, Emily, Melanie, Tyler, and Pete in attendance. They were all in chairs in a circle around Sam and Freddie's bed, with the exception of Sam and Freddie, who were seated on the bed. Freddie had purchased the largest turkey he could find, and divided it up at Sam's advising. "Puckett tradition," she told him, "is very basic. We divided the turkey into three parts. At first, it's in two parts; one quarter of it separate from the other three. That three quarters is split in half. Mom gets a big part, I get a big part, and Melanie gets a small."

"If Melanie got preferential treatment, why is her piece smaller?"

"She has the appetite of a butterfly."

So the turkey was split in half. Sam got the first half, and the other half was divided among the others.

"So, Freddie," Carly asks suddenly, "What are you thankful for?"

Freddie smiles as he remembers the tradition his mother had taught him. He placed his hand on Sam's stomach, a gesture she barely noticed s she was preoccupied with her food.

"For Sam, for Abby, and for a bright future for the Bensons."

There was appreciative sounds from the company, except for Sam, who hadn't seemed to have heard.

"What about you, Sam?" Freddie asked.

Sam turned to him. "Huh, what?"

"What are you thankful for?"

"Oh! For you, for Abby, and for a bright future for the Bensons."

"…That's what_ I_ said."

"Well, I THOUGHT it first."

"No, you didn't."

"How would you know?"

"I wouldn't."

"Then shut your trap, Fredward, and let Carly speak."

Carly smiled up at her best friends. "Well, I'm thankful for my best friends finally making peace-"

"Among other things." Griffin cut across. Everyone except for Carly laughed.

"Not in front of Emily, please, dear." Carly said, exasperated. "Emily, how about you?"

"Mama!" Emily squealed out one of the only ten words she knew. Griffin tousled her hair. "What about Daddy?"

Griffin sighed. "Hopefully she'll learn Daddy soon, but for now everybody's Mama…and I'm thankful for Emily and Carly." He added quickly at a stern glare from Carly.

"OK, Ty, you go." Melanie prompted. Tyler, who was now a year and a half old, babbled babyishly, "For big feather birds with meat!"

"He takes after his grandmother and aunt in the meat-loving respect." Pete said proudly.

Sam smiled. "Good man."

"Anyway, I'm grateful for Mel, Ty, and for our new baby niece Abby." Pete finished smilingly.

After Melanie proclaimed her gratefulness for her sister, brother-in-law, and niece, the room became absorbed in quiet as each person put all their attention into eating. Afterwards there was small talk, followed by two hours in front of the Seattle Cobras' game.

And once everyone had left at around eight, Sam turned to Freddie.

"Hey, Freddie?"

"Hmm?"

She leaned up and kissed his forehead. "Happy Thanksgiving.

He swooped down and kissed her on the lips. Sam's eyes widened in surprise and then closed by reflex. She appreciated it when he surprised her like this.

Replacing the kiss with a hug-or the most plausible one he could pull off while he was kneeling in front of her-he whispered,

"Happy Thanksgiving."

**A/N: **_Sorry I haven't updated in awhile, been very busy with school and such. This chapter is mostly filler, as nothing significant happens during Sam's seventh month. I tried. (And failed xD) But please review anyway? _

_Hope you liked!_


	9. Month Eight: The Last Day

**A/N: **_I am so, SO, sorry for not finishing this sooner. I had a bit of writer's block, not to mention a big blow to my confidence in writing this. Oh well. This chapter covers my favorite holiday. Seddie + Christmas= me in paradise! xDDD_

_Oh! And down in there you'll find a line that begins "For a minute or two, he watched her sleep…" That is a reference to _The Best Laid Plans._ For those of you who don't know, _The Best Laid Plans _was a fanfic I wrote before I began working on this. It showed how Sam and Freddie first began to date. So for all of you who read The Best Laid Plans, YES, this fic is the follow-up to it. And if you haven't…well….go read it! _

_I think you're really going to like this !_

Freddie shook Sam awake cautiously. It was a Saturday, and he was taking this particular day off to his advantage.

Sam awoke very slowly and with the attitude of a bear woken from its hibernation.

"Mmmmf…"

"Sorry…" Freddie whispered.

"Not sorry enough to just let me sleep." Sam mumbled sleepily, closing her eyes again.

"This won't take long. I just need to ask you where the axe is."

Sam's eyes flew open. Now fully awake, she turned around sharply to face Freddie.

"Where the _what_ is?"

"The axe." Freddie replied with a smirk.

"What do you need an axe for?"

"Well, see, Griffin told me about this really cool Christmas tree lot, and you get to chop the trees down yourself, so I needed to know where the axe was so I don't have to use a steak knife or something…"

"Oh…" Sam rolled her eyes. Now it was her turn to smirk.

"That makes sense."

"What do you mean?"

"For a second there, I actually thought you were doing something, you know, cool and exciting."

Freddie rolled his eyes.

"But…wait…" Sam said, realization hitting her.

"What?"

"Carls and Mel are both out of town, and you won't be here. I need someone home, remember?"

"I already thought of that."

Reaching to the bedroom floor, he grabbed his laptop and a small camera. Fastening the camera behind his ear, he showed her the laptop.

"See? With this camera, you can look at the laptop screen, and you can see and hear everything I do. And you can press these keys…" he held down Command J, "and talk, and I'll be able to hear you and everything. So if you need me, just yell."

Sam nodded. "Nice nerd piece."

"Sam…"

"OK, OK…sorry…"

"So, where's the axe?"

"Oh, yeah! It's on the top shelf of our closet."

After Freddie had dressed, he took the axe in his hand. "I can't believe you keep this in our _closet_."

"Well, if anyone were to rob us or something, we'd know where the weapons were. So we'd be prepared. And prepared means safe, since safety means the world to you."

"It does _not_."

He leaned down to kiss the tip of her nose.

"But it's a close second."

Sam smiled.

Staring into the fluorescent light of the laptop screen, Sam gave Freddie advice in choosing the right tree, laughed when he dropped the blunt part of the axe on his foot _before_ asking if he was alright (he was), and giving him a hard time when he had to get Griffin to cut down the tree for him because his fingers were too numb. (Sam called it "Typical Fredward Weakness", and Freddie replied "Typical Puckett Meanness")

She was forced to sit and watch as Freddie set up the tree by himself. He, however, had taken the liberty to move their TV to the left and position the tree in front of their bed so that she would be able to actually look at it over the holidays.

Sam sat with the box of ornaments on her lap, telling Freddie exactly where she wanted each one of them. It was perfect; she not only got to do something somewhat fun, she got the added bonus of bossing Freddie around. It took him the entire rest of the afternoon to set up the tree so that it met Sam's requirements exactly. By dinnertime, snow was falling thick and fast outside of their window, nearly obscuring their view of the outside world completely.

Dinner that night was a Hawaiian pizza from the Pizza Shack, which Sam and Freddie ate almost absently, transfixed by the light of the tree before them. They ate in absolute silence, just listening to the sound of wind breathing on their windowpane, causing snowflakes to tap on the glass gently. After a long time, Sam kicked the pizza box on the floor with a sweeping motion, causing Freddie to give a small chuckle.

"It's almost time." Sam said suddenly.

"Hmm?" Freddie replied, having been sucked out of his little world of light bulbs and the fresh scent of pine trees swirling around their room.

"For Abby." Sam said, looking over at Freddie.

"What makes you say that?"

"I dunno…just…instinct, I guess."

Freddie nodded. He put his arm around Sam's shoulder, and she obligingly leaned against his.

"Well, regardless…" Freddie said soothingly, "I'll be right here the whole time."

"You'd better be, Benson." Sam said with a small smile.

"Benson yourself."

"Seven years ago I would have slapped you across the face for saying that."

She stuck her finder in her mouth and then into Freddie's ear with her free hand.

"But since we're married and all, that's all you're getting."

"Lucky me."

"Lucky you."

Neither of them said anything after that. Sam eventually dropped into sleep there, leaning against Freddie. He flicked off the lights with the Universal remote he had received from his cousin as a wedding gift.

For a minute or two he simply watched Sam sleep. It reminded him of a time not so long ago…maybe six years? …when he had first begun to date Sam Puckett. That project seemed so long ago, but it was the whole reason they were here today.

And so it was with her on his mind that Freddie, too, fell asleep.

At around two in the morning, beads of sweat were forming on Sam's face. She was dreaming, and in her dream, she kept experiencing flashes of increasingly large jolts of pain. Her hand, which was entwined with Freddie's, was twitching in its place. It felt like a knife was being pushed into her, deeper and deeper each time...panic was beginning to set in…

Her blue eyes flew open, but all she saw was a sheet of blackness. The searing pain from her vivid dream was still present…her hand crushed Freddie's as she shouted out loud…

"Sam!" Freddie cried, immediately turning the lights on. Sam squinted in the brightness, refusing to release her vice-like grip of Freddie.

Freddie and Sam looked down at the mess of wetness around Sam, her broken water having spilled out all over the bedcovers.

And as Freddie looked her over, it became obvious in an instant that in her sleep, Sam had gone into labor.

Their nervous eyes met eachother.

"Oh, God…" Sam breathed hoarsely.

And then they spoke at the same instant.

"It's time."

**A/N: **_And with that, I leave you with this cliffhanger._


	10. A New Day

**A/N: **_Alright. I apologize for leaving you with a cliffy...and that I'm bothering you with this note when you should be reading the story. Be warned; a swearing and generally labor-ish Sam off the port bow._

_Enjoy!_

Freddie scooped Sam up into his arms and ran towards the car, flipping off lights by force of habit as he went. Snatching his key off the table, he was out the front door in seconds. He slipped on a patch of ice, causing him to land flat on his back in the snow. And despite being in a rather large amount of pain, Sam found it in her to laugh.

And despite the fact that he was now speeding towards the hospital, Freddie found it in him to roll his eyes.

By the time they had arrived there, Sam had used Freddie's name among more profanities than he thought could be said in fifteen minutes. Picking her up again, he was barely through the front door when she was whisked away by several doctors and placed into a wheelchair.

She turned back over her shoulder. Her face was livid with pain and frustration, her eyes shining with many different emotions.

"WAIT!" she was shouting at the doctors. "WE-HAVE-TO-WAIT-FOR-FREDDIE!"

But try as he might, Freddie couldn't get himself to her side-she had to endure the shots and medication without him there. And the doctors didn't seem to listen to Sam's angry screams, the result of dealing with this on a regular basis.

Sam's eyes widened and her screams came to a dead halt at the sight of the needle they were about to inject into her. Shot needles had always been one of her least favorite things on earth, right up there with Mrs. Benson and third-through-ninth grade. But after the needle left her, she felt a strange numb sensation spreading down her lower body…and then she was off in the wheelchair again, speeding towards her room…

Meanwhile, Freddie was being confined to the waiting room until Sam was ready to begin pushing. He had already placed the hospital gown on over his pajamas, and had called Carly and Melanie, both of whom had expressed desire to attend Abby's birth.

It was the longest hour of his life. He glanced casually at the outdated magazine headlines several times, paced, he even counted ceiling tiles. But the entire time, he thought of his wife, who was probably being pushed far beyond her limits, and the delivery hadn't even begun….

Sam found herself in a long hospital gown, her legs propped up, and her eyes fixed on the white ceiling, trying to find some way to distract herself. The doctors continually made comments like "She looks good," "She appears stable…"

And then, after an hour of increasingly mounting pain, one of the nurses she vaguely recognized as being the one who had delivered the news that her baby was a girl approached.

"Mrs. Benson, your cervix has reached ten inches." She said calmly, a light smile on her pale features.

"…What does that mean?" Sam asked, confused.

The nurse was headed back to her fellow doctors when Sam asked the question, and she replied without a backward glance.

"It means that you're ready to push."

Ten minutes later, Freddie, Carly, and Melanie were looking in on the rather horrifying scene in front of them from behind the backs of several doctors. Upon seeing Freddie, one of the doctors gave a sigh of relief.

"She has been screaming for you since she got here." He said exasperatedly. "I think you're going to have to talk some sense into that…"

Freddie knew the doctor would have liked to have said "lunatic", but the effect it would have had on the already irate woman in front of him would have been rather alarming.

"Freddie...It…it _hurts_…" Sam shouted in-between pants.

Freddie approached her reassuringly. "Sssh….listen, I know it hurts, but you've got to do this, OK?" He offered her his hand. "Hold on to me as hard as you hurt."

And instantly his hand was crushed in a grip stronger than he had thought possible for even Sam to pull off-he would have doubted as much from a truck driver or pro wrestler. But then again, she could burp like one and fight like the other…

"There, that's good…" Freddie said, making an effort not to grimace. On the other side of the bed, Melanie and Carly had been admitted through the mess of doctors. Soon Carly had Sam's other hand, which Sam held onto so tightly that Carly's wedding ring cut both of their hands.

"Listen to me, Sam." Melanie said suddenly. Freddie, Carly, and Sam all turned to her. Melanie took over the situation like any Puckett would.

"Samantha, you are more than capable of dealing with this. You've always been a fighter, and it made you strong. You've got more strength than all of us. And you're gonna have a kid here in a few minutes who's gonna bring you all the happiness in the world."

Freddie and Sam met eyes momentarily. Freddie smiled, and Sam made the effort to, but it came out as a pained grimace.

"Once you get through this, I'm gonna buy you all the steak you can possibly eat, alright?" Melanie said firmly. "Show them what Pucketts are made of!"

Sam screamed as she gave another push.

"Come on, Sam!" Carly cried, "You're almost there…"

Something about the incident triggered a nine-year old memory of Freddie's…

He was searching Carly's old apartment for baby chicks…He had to yell at Duke to get him to do some feat he had thought impossible…What was it?

"Lift the fridge!" Freddie cried suddenly as it dawned on him.

"What the hell did you just say, Fredward?" Sam spat fiercely.

Well…if it worked on a sweaty wrestler, it would work on her.

"Come on, Sam-" Freddie began encouragingly, but he was cut off.

Sam let out her loudest and most agonized scream yet. It shook Freddie deeply as she turned to him with a murderous look on her face.

"YOU DID THIS TO ME, FREDDIE BENSON!" she screamed. "NOW GET ME OUT OF THIS!"

"You're getting there, Sam!" Freddie cried, almost not hearing himself anymore.

"I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!" Sam shouted. In its rather disoriented state, her mind was going back to the opinion of Freddie it had held long ago. Freddie played right along with it.

"I hate you too, Sam, but you have got to push harder!

"I can see the baby's head!" One of the doctors said excitedly. "Your baby has hair!"

"Did you hear that, Sam? Abby has hair!" Freddie cried encouragingly.

"I had hair…when I was born…" Sam said with a tiny smile.

"That is awesome! Hair is super! Hair is great!" Freddie shouted, knowing full well how ridiculous he sounded. It didn't matter; it was working. The baby was coming out slowly, but it was coming.

"The head and shoulders are out!" the head nurse cried, mostly to Sam but partially to Freddie.

Carly and Melanie seemed to get Freddie's idea then, because they chipped in with their own shouts.

"Did you hear that, Sam?"

"Our baby's almost half out!"

"Come on, push like you mean it, Puckett!"

"Keep pushing, Mrs. Benson!" The nurse called. "It's almost over…"

Freddie squeezed Sam's hand as she gripped his even tighter.

"IT'S ALL YOU, SAM!" Freddie shouted, aware that his words sounded like encouragement a thirteen year old would give in this situation. But it was this, more than anything, that made for one last scream, one last mighty shove…

And then the room was filled with the sounds of crying.

As Abby was cleaned and the umbilical cord removed from her body, the first of Sam and her cheer squad to lay eyes on her was Freddie. His eyes grew wide in an incredible awe as the baby was brought to Sam, and the doctors left to give the Bensons and their two friends a few minutes alone.

Sam looked down at her daughter.

Something struck her then. She had held many different babies, thought they were cute, or annoying, or soft, or fat, or overall bratty. But she had never truly connected with any of them, never felt any responsibility when she held one.

This was different.

"This is _mine_." She whispered in awe.

Freddie smiled down at her proudly. "You did amazing, Sam."

Brown and blue eyes fell to the young Abigail Marissa Benson in her mother's arms.

"Wow." They breathed.

"She's gorgeous." Freddie said, at a loss for words.

"She's perfect." Replied the breathless, exhausted, but most noticeably, ecstatic Sam.

Carly and Melanie beheld the scene with broad smiles on their faces. Both had been there, both had experienced the rush of joy and responsibility that Sam and Freddie were feeling.

And then, the only thing that could have ruined this moment came in the shape of Sam's mom.

Pam Puckett entered the room indifferently, looking at Abby for less than a second.

"Mom?" Melanie and Sam said disbelievingly at the same moment. It had been a very long time since all three Pucketts were in one room together.

"Why are you here?" Sam asked bluntly.

"I asked her to come." Melanie said immediately.

"You _what_?"

"Your sister spoke with me." Pam said flatly. "She explained your 'sadness' at my unhappiness with you."

Sam nodded slowly, her hold on Abby growing steadily more protective.

"Samantha Puckett…Well it's Benson now…" she cast Freddie a look, and he gave a small acknowledging smile.

"I have never been more proud of you."

Sam and Freddie looked at eachother in shock.

"…What?" Freddie said finally.

"Sam, we may not have the best past, but your sister here talked some sense into me."

She clapped her daughter's shoulder with all the typical Puckett vigor.

"Great job today, honey." She said sincerely.

"You kicked ass."

Sure, it wasn't exactly the phrasing of a Hallmark card, but Sam beamed. So did Carly, Melanie, and Freddie.

Sam passed her daughter up to her mother. At that moment, Abby opened her eyes to reveal to shockingly blue pools of color.

"Woah…those are the bluest eyes I've ever seen…" Freddie breathed, looking into his mother-in-law's arms.

"And they'll stay blue." Pam said confidently.

Freddie raised his eyebrows. "You sure?"

"Sure, all babies are born with blue eyes, but you can always tell if they'll stay that way. Your girl's got Puckett eyes there, Sam." Pam said, and there was an unmistakable note of pride in her voice.

Sam smiled even wider than before as her daughter returned to her arms.

And even after the doctors took Abby away to give her the shots and checkups she needed, the five people in the hospital room stayed where they were, pulling up seats around Sam's bed. They made small talk, remembering all the good times between them. Carly even asked if they'd be interested in posting a new video on iCarly, their first in a year, to celebrate the event, but Sam had declined.

"Maybe this Christmas." Sam had said to the somewhat disappointed look on her friend's face.

"So in….seven days!" Melanie said brightly.

"You think Spencer will let us use the loft again?" Freddie asked.

"I'm sure I can talk him into it." Carly said as the now fully awake newborn was placed into her arms.

"Wow, Sam..." Carly breathed. "You did an awesome job."

"She looks like you." Pam commented. "Except her hair."

Sam hadn't thought to actually examine her daughter's physical features yet, having been too preoccupied with the fact that she was finally _real,_ not just the object of all her recent dreams. But one look and she saw it to be true; Abby had her eyes, her facial structure, and her nose. But the hair was unmistakably Freddie's.

Sam and Freddie brought Abby home on December 22nd, four days after the delivery. She slept through Christmas Day, and Sam only made it until ten that New Year's. True to her word, Melanie bought Sam all the steak she wanted, most of which she used as inventory for _The Flaming Pigs._

Abby's eyes forever retained their deep blue color, and her hair had taken the length and style of her mother's by the time she was two, but it still retained Freddie's brunette shade.

On the day that Abigail Benson came home, Freddie had the radio on and tuned to his and Sam's favorite stations. The radio host was nearing the end of his talk, and like usual, he asked,

"Anyone interested in making a shoutout, you know which number to call!"

Freddie thought about this for a moment, then he flipped his cell phone open and dialed the station.

"Hello, this is Nate Thompson, your Seattle Beat Radio host. Who's this?"

Freddie was pleasantly surprised. He had never gotten through to the station before.

"Freddie Benson."

"Hey there, Mr. Benson, and what can I do for you?"

"I'd like to make a shoutout to a certain Mrs. Benson here next to me, and another shoutout to Abby, who's just barely four days old."

"Congratulations!"

"Thank you!" Freddie said, casting a fond look at his sleeping daughter and exhausted wife. But she had heard the shoutout, and she took Freddie's hand in hers.

"You didn't have to do that."

"I know."

Sam rolled her eyes, laughing gently. "You are a sap, Freddie Benson."

"But you love me."

"I know that."

The radio host, who had heard this exchange due to Freddie forgetting to hang up, smiled into his microphone.

"Well, Seattle, here's to love, marriage, and to new life…"

Freddie snapped his phone shut, rubbing the back of Sam's hand with his thumb.

"This is Nate Thompson signing off…"

The car pulled up into the Benson's driveway, and the halt woke up Abby, who patted at her blanket happily.

"Goodnight, Seattle. Over and out."

**A/N: **_And now you know why it's called Over and Out xDD_

_Wow. This chapter took a whole week to write. If you'd like, I'll make a oneshot showing what the Benson's are up to nowadays and put it in Frosting Fights. _

_Also, art pertaining to this fic will start showing up on my DeviantArt account, which is MJEatsPants. I do not eat pants. It's an inside joke. _

_I really hope you enjoyed this chapter, and this fanfic. It's been a pleasure writing it, and all your nice reviews made it that much more fun. Hope you liked reading as much as I liked writing._

_Thank you so much! Cannot say how much it means to me. Keep on being awesome, my fellow Seddie warriors! _


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